Reproductivity Of The Art Of Art By Walter Benjamin

During the nineteenth century, Karl Marx and Andrew Carnegie had definite opinions about the affects of industrialization on society. A greater understanding of their views on history and humanity can be gained by comparing and contrasting two written artifacts: The Communist Manifesto and “Wealth.”

If the image is no longer unique and exclusive, the art object, the thing, must be made mysteriously so,” (Berger 44). Therefore, the final step in the exploitation of power is mystification of its origins. Over time a concept will build its image and solidify its strength through results, showing the public its value until it becomes integrated and thus, hidden within society. There are several examples of power that has become formally accepted or internalized by the public and it is difficult to see how they exploit power because their origins are mystified. For the concept of originality in art, we can see how its status may have risen because of the definition we give to “originality” rules that have commercial purposes or vice versa. Some examples include companies that have copyright issues to protect names and identities that belong to them, or schools that incorporate rules about plagiarism. The idea of originality has already become internalized within our society that assigning a market meaning with it, just seems natural. If our judicial system has already incorporated ideas of “originality”, then not many people will see any problems with it. However, it is important to look at the origins and realize how a power came to be to prevent it from being exploited. Another covert concept integrated within society

and brought to the forefront the question of freedom and necessity. Whereby luxury had been

Disney’s Pixar film, A Bug’s Life, is much more than meets the eye. The film is not only an animated comedy; it holds deep sociological theory within its plot. Many of the major themes and concepts of the movie can be viewed through the lens of the famous theorist Karl Marx. Marx’s theory is famous for focusing on how society functions. In particular he concerns himself with how capitalism, the working class, and the revolutions create problems in our society. My paper will analyze how Marxian theory and concepts fit into major climactic scenes of the film.

Re-made and re-carved works have been around for hundreds of years as artists take inspiration from whom the original was recreated. In Roman art history, certain artists would re-make Roman portraits to honor those before them. However, this was not always the case as individuals would destroy and damage art as a damnation of memory. What determined our understanding of the specific work depended on why the remade or re-carved work was created. These re-made and re-carved artworks revealed a deeper meaning about the individual, culture and the society for whom the original was recreated.

Another great achievement made by the modern bourgeoisies has been to liberate the human capacity and drive for development.(Berman P94) This drive is known as the everyday workings and needs of the bourgeoisie economy. Marx praises the bourgeoisie because this class demonstrates the potential of human will. According to Marx and Berman the limits of these accomplishments is the fact that some of the bourgeoisie ideas are not profitable. Despite all of their accomplishments, the bourgeoisie is only worried about making a profit. According to Berman they are the most violently destructive ruling class in history.(Berman P102) The bourgeoisies profit craving mindsets compromises the moral views of society.

In the Vermeer case, it is not the technique that was forged but his discovery of it; his originality in its use. Lessing further defines his view of artistic originality and its importance. He contends that true artistic originality comes from the impact on the history and progression of art. Vermeer, he says was a great artist because he brought new and original technique and style to the artistic community and profoundly impacted art history. The ability to produce aesthetically beautiful pieces of art is not all that makes a great artist, but it is this originality or “the fact that [Vermeer] painted certain

“True, mass-reproduced art does lack temporal and physical uniqueness, yet reproductions, no longer bound to the circumstances of their creation, many

As the result of Capitalism, labor has been under admonition and oppression. Instead of picturing the world as it is, Capitalism pictures the world in a distorted view. A view that leads to the alienation of the true meaning of human nature. The view that places the products of laborers more important than the laborers themselves; thus the laborers are objectified. Laborers then do not realize that they are the ones who are in control of the product that they produce. “Alienated labor hence turns the species-existence of man, and also nature as his mental species capacity, into an existence alien to him, into the means of his individual existence.” The distorted view leads to the miscognition of self of the working class who are cut off from their essential powers. They fail to realize that the world is of their own making and that they have the ability to create and recreate the world in which they live in. Marx’s theory of privileging of economic matters places an emphasis on class struggles that are related to the forces of production as well as the relations of productions. Economics is the production of the exchange of goods and services through labor arrangements. In every society there is a way to distribute goods and services called a mode of production. The mode of production is the combination of the forces of productions; like raw

While reading the article, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin, it is clear to grasp the idea being portrayed. The author is determined to prove to his readers how the advancement of humanity has led to drastic changes in how we create and perceive artwork. Mechanical reproduction of a work of art, however, represents something new. Historically, it advanced intermittently and in leaps at long intervals, but with accelerated intensity. One of the questions brought up in the article is: Has the aura of art been altered through its mechanical reproduction? Walter Benjamin offers several strong examples to describe exactly what aura is and how mechanical reproduction drastically alters this deep sensation in original artwork. Moreover, he includes two key concepts of ritual and tradition throughout the article. The author does a good job of explaining how the mechanical reproduction of artifacts can negatively influence the traditional form of fine art. In other words, art was simply a craft that was man-made before we had the ability to duplicate it. The custom of creating art was considerably altered when mechanical reproduction started. Hence, the original or “traditional” way of producing fine art was completely changed. Secondly, Walter Benjamin uses the concept of ritual, which he has also clearly defined within his article. Using context clues, we can deduce that he believes the aura of any art is never disconnected from its

Both Karl Marx and Max Weber sought to understand the emergence of modern bourgeoisie capitalism and its pervasiveness, at least throughout the western world, in the nineteenth century. Both authors saw modern capitalism as an inherently superior system of economic exchange for the generation of wealth, but greatly differed in their epistemological approach to its genesis. This in turn influenced their loci of analysis, as well as their eventual conclusions on the processes of historical change itself. In this essay I will argue that Marx’s historical-materialist view of historical change was based on an analysis of the objective similarities on the material conditions of all individuals. And informed his view on class and its corresponding social relationship. On the other hand, Weber acknowledged a more nuanced relationship between ideas and historical change. He asserts that ideas are dependent upon subjective contexts that give meaning to and rationalize actions. It is from this basis that Weber analyses modern capitalism from the ideal type of the protestant work ethic and is related to the the role of ideology in the rationalization of the modern world.

As Clive Bell defined it, in what many considered to be a defense of Cezanne, art is a manmade thing possessing “significant form” in a “combination of lines, shapes and colors in certain relations”. In another way of expressing it, and one which would be taken up as a criticism of the term and artists who embraced it, it could be “art for art’s sake,” dependent on no outside context or understanding of the content, and available to any “sensitive viewer” (which won’t be everyone, as Bell admits the existence of people for whom no work of art will evoke a reaction, “like deaf men at a concert”). In this view, even a literal copy would be unlikely to meet the test, because another person could not convey the

The ideas of authorship and innovation are significant to the examination of appropriation in modern-day art. To accurately study the notion it is essential to reflect on the work of the artists linked with appropriation with regards to their incentives, thinking, and the influence of their work. The word ‘author’ signifies the individual which gives actuality to or makes a piece of work. For that reason authorship delineates the responsibility for everything created by that author. With appropriated works such as Readymades, the observer is less likely to contemplate the part of the author or artist in raising understandings and thoughts of the work if they are cognizant of the work from which it was appropriated.

Adorno contrasts Benjamin’s theory. Adorno, in his writings states that he believes technology and the ability to recreate pieces of work has no possible positive repercussions. Adorno believes that the ability to recreate something destroys the originality and value of the piece, but unlike Benjamin , Adorno sees no benefit in art forms being more widely available through the ability to record and reproduce copies of such pieces, is not beneficial to the piece in any means. Adorno believes that

Benjamin is saying that reproductions reduce the integrity of the art because the product is no longer authentic. Benjamin also speaks of “aura- a symptomatic process whose significance points beyond the realm of art.” (1936). according to him this is missing in works that have been reproduced or produced indirectly, i.e. a copy of a painting or a photograph. I think that the value of art is in the art itself and the use of it to express one’s inner goals and desires. Benjamin also speaks of the “shattering of tradition” that he believes is caused by the loss of authenticity of art in its original form. I believe that while there would have been a certain intimacy between the artist and the subject in the past. That does not exist today due to technology. We now can take thousands of photos a day, whereas 150 years ago a person may have sat for a portrait for a few hours. Reproductions while devaluing both the integrity and price of a piece of art, is a necessary price to pay for the